Comments for Ian Welsh

Comment on Michael Hastings by katiebird

katiebird — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:16:24 +0000

This Local News Story about the crash is shocking:

Comment on Michael Hastings by LorenzoStDuBois

LorenzoStDuBois — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:52:01 +0000

Sooo………..

Aside from the horribleness of this development, is anyone analyzing whether what actually happened was definitely an accident?

I know it’s a bit melodramatic, and crazy accidents in which you go straight into a tree and the entire car explodes do actually happen from time to time, but it sure as hell seems to me worth looking into, given the fact that this is America in 2013.

Comment on The Logic of the Surveillance State by someofparts

someofparts — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:36:50 +0000

fyi – http://real-economics.blogspot.com/

I like the ‘drinking from a firehose’ image.

Comment on The Decline and Fall of Post War Liberalism and the Rise of the Right by Ian Welsh

Ian Welsh — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:23:50 +0000

Curtis,

don’t disagree, aye. Note that it /is/ a 2K word article already, however.

Comment on The Decline and Fall of Post War Liberalism and the Rise of the Right by Curtis

Curtis — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:01:25 +0000

The problem with this analysis is not that it’s wrong, but that it’s too limited. Left out are how liberals and the left increasingly relied on the courts to effect change and how the rise of identity politics both addressed real needs and further fractured the left. It is rarely the strength of the enemy alone but the mistakes the other side makes, which calls for
self-reflection and self-criticism.

Comment on The Syrian Civil War by DupinTM

DupinTM — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 03:36:54 +0000

It’s so sad to see Wesley Clark in the NYT today (Tuesday). http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/18/opinion/to-get-a-truce-be-ready-to-escalate.html?_r=0

The idea that Ian’s shot down – that Assad could ever go peaceably, after what we’ve shown we do to Mubarak, Morsi, etc…. that’s wishful thinking brought on by I suppose a lot of cashing in one’s contacts after his fruitless quest to help out in 2004.

Comment on The Syrian Civil War by Badtux

Badtux — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 03:03:43 +0000

The reality is that this was always a war that had to rely on the rebels winning quick and winning clean before the general public could wake up and smell the coffee and realize just who these rebels really are (i.e., primarily radical right-wing jihadists). Assad wasn’t that brutal a dictator as dictators go, he was a London-educated optometrist for cryin’ out loud before being called back to be the heir-in-waiting when his older brother died, and now that the predominantly-secular Syrian people have had time to see these rebels up close they aren’t liking what they’re seeing.

I must admit that I was surprised to see Hizballah enter the country. They have traditionally been about Lebanon and only Lebanon, and the Alawites aren’t really Shiite no matter how much they try to pretend they are so even Shia unity isn’t an explanation. All I can figure is that they smelled the coffee too and realized that a) Assad was destined to win, and b) that if they wanted to retain their supply chain to Iran, they needed to cozy up to Assad. That said, while Assad would have won without Hizballah, their entry has clearly turned what would have been a slow and bloody process into something that is happening much quicker as the rebels collapse when faced with real fighters as vs. poorly-trained draftees.

In the end this is a situation we should not be involved with, and should never have been involved with. The only reason our right wing is attempting to get us involved is on behalf of the right wing in Israel, who want a radical Islamist regime next door in order to justify continuing to rule under the rubric of “we’ll protect you from the jihadis, unlike those nastyliberals!” I.e., the most cynical of electoral politics in Israel. Bah, a pox on all their houses…

Comment on The Syrian Civil War by DFS

DFS — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:48:04 +0000

Agreed on Hezbollah. They’ve been doing low-intensity urban warfare for going on 30 years now and they’ve gotten pretty good at it. In the conflicts where they choose to involve themselves they will beat anyone they’re likely to face.

Comment on Stirling Newberry by Tina Rife

Tina Rife — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:47:48 +0000

Thanks Ian!

Comment on Stirling Newberry by Ian Welsh

Ian Welsh — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 04:37:44 +0000

Back on real food, complaining about the hospital food (always a good sign.) Undergoing speech and physical therapy. Short term memory problems, but they seem to be getting better.